- Joined
- Jul 4, 2009
- Messages
- 146
- Format
- 35mm
This is the paradox of scanning yourself. The lab scanner is probably better than any you or I could afford. However, you and I have the luxury of time and the freedom to choose our own settings. This usually results in a more useful scan for our purposes. I've never met a lab that didn't oversharpen their scans (which you can't fix later) and very often they crank the contrast up to where stuff is clipped.
V750 is very highly regarded. It really sets the bar for current consumer level flatbed film scanners. I'm after one myself when I can afford it for my large format stuff.
The issue is that flatbeds suffer compromises that dedicated film scanners do not. They must scan through an additional layer of glass, they must use a lens with a much wider field than you need for the smaller formats, they have a much less controlled light path and, of course, they are built to a price and must perform well when scanning A4 paper documents. None of these limitations are imposed on dedicated film scanners so they generally can perform better at scanning smaller pieces of film. The smaller the film the more important this is. If you want to shoot 35mm and print it large it is hard to get away from the need for a Coolscan 9000/5000 or the Plustek. If you are shooting medium format or larger the V750 may be all you need. The film scanners can also, generally, deal with denser film gracefully. If, like me, you love to massively overexpose negative film for rich colour and clean shadows then this may or may not be an important factor for you.
Sam